Enclosed - First Draft of Storyboards

Below are photographs of the storyboards for our full film trailer, titled 'Enclosed.' These are the first drafts, and we are going to keep in mind that they are going to change due to limitations of filming but also when we decide on location and characters. We have drawn up 105 storyboards, which we believe are two many, although we thought that it would be better to create more and cut down rather than not having enough. Hopefully our animatic will help us decide which shots work and which we want to use for our final trailer.

Sleepy Hollow - Film Analysis

  I chose to looks at Sleepy Hollow, because the film is classed as a horror with elements of dark, dark black humour, but it is also a particular favourite of mine, as the style and soundtrack of the film are what I find specifically interesting.



  Directed by one of my favourite directors, Tim Burton, the film follows the traditional story of Ichabod Crane, who has been sent to Sleepy Hollow in order to unravel the mysteries and murders that occur in this small village. The locals believe that the murderer is the 'Headless Horseman,' and old myth/legend, whom takes the heads of his victims. However, Crane believes that the murderer is a being of flesh and blood, and along with Katrina, they try to solve the horror that haunts the village of Sleepy Hollow. Although the film is described as a horror, there is a little love interest between Ichabod and Katrina, which provides a more in depth plot but also targets a wider audience.

  The style in this film is incredible. It resembles classic horror, such as House on Haunted Hill, which stars Vincent Price of which Tim Burton is a fan. The environment is very dark, featuring lots of black, grey and blue, and there is constant mist and fog to create the terrifying atmosphere. The film is also period, which fits the story but also adds to the horror, and in my opinion helps create the illusion of another world, where events like these could actually happen. This makes the horror even more frightening. The film was released in theatres mid November, which I think suits the season of the film.

  Apart from the style and design of the film, including the way it was shot, the soundtrack is one of my favourite aspects of the film. Composed by Danny Elfman, the music creates the atmosphere of a haunted village and a mythological creature, using low strings and haunting voices. I think the soundtrack is seriously underrated! The use of the organ is particularly haunting, and fits in with the storyline, as some scenes are set in the village church, and Ichabod's father is overly religious, but evil. The audio also ranges in pace, with fast, tense music accompanying scenes such as the Headless Horseman chasing Crane, but also features slower music, some with a solo of a young boy's voice, which creates another, almost sub-genre of horror, as it experiments with different ways to haunt the audience. Elfman frequently collaborates with Burton, and has composed the soundtracks for most of his films, including Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice and Alice in Wonderland. To experience the horror of the soundtrack, I recommend that one listens to at least the first four minutes of the video (approximately).

  I specifically found the flashback scenes of Ichabod's mother beautiful. The mise en scene that is constructed in the shots, such as the wide shots above, are actually the most colourful in the entire film, but really emphasise the idea of beauty and nature. I love the lavender pink petals of the trees, and the way that the shots are edited to create works of art.




  This is a video that I found whilst researching scenes from the film. Unfortunately I could not find the specific scene of Ichabod's Mother, however this compilation video features snippets from the film, as well as scenes from other Burton filmography. I find this video particularly inspiring, because I believe that it includes some of the best cinematography in film, and recognises the stylistic imagination and design behind Burton's films.

  There are a vast range of angles used in the films, from wide establishing shots, to point of view shots, however below I have listed some of my favourite shots (not including the previous imagery of Ichabod's Mother).

Audience Research

We composed a questionnaire to a random selection of 15 people. Our first question was: Which names do you prefer for a psychological thriller, which is about a boy who's whole life had been a lie? You have multiple choice, so please pick the ones that stand out the most for you. This is the analysis of that survey.

Seeing as "Deception" was the favourite, we had to ensure there was not already a movie that contained this name. However, I found that there was a film called Deception in 2008. We then had to make sure there was not a film called "Delusion". However, this was also a film made in 1991. Our third favourite was Enclosed, which we all agreed to use, as there was not a film made of this, and it was an audience's favourite choice. Our second question was: In a psychological thriller, which one of these themes would you most expect to be in that genre of film? The answers were:

This shows that the most favourited by the random sample was Paranoia, which our psychological thriller film did contain. Discovery and betrayal was also a key theme that people thought was neccessary, which we also included. We then asked: What types of props would you expect to see in a psychological thriller film, based in an asylum? You may give more than one answer. The answers they gave were as shown:

This now gives us an idea on what we can include in our film trailer. The next question asked was: What kind of costumes would you expect to see in a psychological thriller film, based in an asylum? You may give more than one answer. The answers were:

This helps out figure out what an audience would expect to see in our film trailer, so we can meet codes and conventions. We then asked: If you like psychological thrillers, what other kinds of psychological thrillers do you like? [if you do not like them, please say No Comment]. Their answers were:

Our next question was: If you like psychological thrillers, what other genres do you enjoy watching? [if you do not enjoy psychological thrillers, please say No Comment]. The answers were:

The next question asked to our random sample was: What is your favourite film and why? [Please do not include any psychological thrillers that may be your favourite, and pick a different film. The answers were:

Our next question was: What makes a film trailer for a psychological thriller stand out most for you? The answers were:

Finally, our last question was: What type of things do you expect to see, stereotypically, in a psychological thriller trailer? The answers were:

From this survey, we have a lot of ideas we can use for props, music, locations, and what people would expect to see in psychological thrillers, so we can fit codes and conventions, and maybe even challenge some with our plot in our trailer.

Films and Film Trailers That Have Inspired Me

Sucker Punch is a film that particularly inspired me. At the beginning of the film, there is about 5-10 minutes of the backstory, which is filmed very stylistically. Shot in very dark and haunting colours, the narrative is told without any dialogue (excluding the introductory poetic voice over before the events occur, and the occasional, "No!"), as the soundtrack dominates the audio, and the actual movement of the characters is almost presented in slow motion, which dramatises the events and is an interesting way of storytelling in film.
Below is the opening scene to the film, with a mini trailer added at the end.






I found this scene in Kill Bill particularly inspiring, and definitely aided me to come up with visually pleasing storyboards of the nurse setting up a tray of equipment, as well as revealing the character. The extreme close up shots of certain items and actions were interesting, and I attempted to replicate a few when creating our own shots.  Although our trailer is a different genre, I love the style of this film, and when I was trying to think of resources to extract inspiration for a nurse scene, this clip sprang to mind. I also found the use of a split screen very effective when telling the story line, and I think it is clever that they synchronise the two, i.e. When Elle is filling the syringe, a close up of the patient's wrist is shown on the split screen, allowing the audience to make the link that Elle is going to inject the patient with an unknown medicine.

Sin City

The cinematography in Sin City is one of my favourite in cinema. The stylistic design of the way the film was shot is so unique, and perfectly suits the comic book adaptation genre. I love the contrast between the black and white and the use of certain colours, such as red lipstick and blonde hair, as it carries a very film-noir feel but remains true to the graphic novel. Although something of this design would be extremely difficult to replicate as an amateur, I am definitely inspired by the art and will contain the inspiration from Sin City incase I can apply it to our own project. Below is the opening scene to the film, which gives an overview of the style and art in the film.

Changeling was another film that I found to be a great source. In particular, the mental institution scenes were very effective and enticed me as I watched them. I will definitely refer to these specific scenes in the film as it features a similar storyline to our own film trailer - Jolie's character is contained in psychopathic ward even though she is sane, and it follows her struggle to prove that. Where as in our plot, the boy has been brought up in the asylum from birth, and does not know any other life, but is not insane (however he has psychopathic tendencies after finding out certain information). The mise en scene in the psychopathic ward - scenes were what I found most inspiring. Similar to American Horror Story: Asylum, the rooms are very hospitalised (obviously), minimalistic and I found the character's costumes within the institution greatly inspiring, which helped me visual what our characters will look like, especially in the first few scenes where Cecilia is a nurse. Below is the trailer for Changeling, which I will refer to in the future, although I am uncertain of yet whether to analyse.

Psycho (1960)

Our project is a horror/psychological thriller, where the male character is classified as mentally insane. Therefore, I thought that Psycho would be an obvious film to look at, especially as it is one of the most famous films in cinema history. 

  Unfortunately, Prezi would not allow me to upload YouTube videos onto the presentation (technical difficulties), therefore I have added any videos that are relevant to the analysis towards the end of the blog post.

This is the official teaser trailer that was used when the film was first released in the theatres. I thought that it would be interesting to include just to show the difference in the conventions of trailers and adverts nowadays compared to in history. The humour in this is brilliant.

American Horror Story: Asylum

American Horror Story: Asylum is the second season of the American television show. Although our task is to create a film trailer, I think that this programme is a great source for inspiration, especially as it is set in an asylum.

  Set in a mental institution in 1964, the series follows the stories of the patients and doctors of the asylum. This was great inspiration for our own project, and was the inspiration for the idea to create a period horror, as the customs and treatment of the patients could be represented much more violently and affectionless. The promo videos for the show are what I find most intriguing, and although they are not traditional trailers, they are created very stylistically and artistically, featuring scenarios that are extremely disturbing and abstract. Due to the absence of a budget for our trailer, it would be difficult to recreate anything of a similar nature, however this style definitely inspires me and opens up ideas of how to present our film. Here is a collection of the promo videos that were used for the show.




  The narrative sometimes flashes forward to present day, where the asylum is run down and in ruins. This was part of the inspiration for our back story, and I found the colours that were used particularly interesting, as the 1960s storyline had a much more vintage and gritty look, for obvious reasons, where as the present day scenes were much much more vibrant, with more red and lightbulb yellow used. This is to create the modern horror style, where as the period narrative focuses much more on the old fashioned horror.
  The show gives a very good overview of Briarcliff asylum, with introductions to the vast range of characters/patients purely to show that the asylum deals with the most troubled, with one character to have apparently drowned her sister's baby before slicing her ears off, and another verbally abusing one of the 'sisters' that works in the asylum, and throwing faeces at her. Although it is all very disturbing, I think that it pushes the boundaries and effectively represents the horror that occurs in Briarcliff.
  In terms of mise en scene, the asylum is actually run by nuns, making religion and the brutalities of such quite a big focus and used to create part of the horror. The outfits are very smart, however visually intimidating and clearly strict. The patients themselves mainly where cloaks and straight jackets, which I think our group could replicate for our film trailer. The structure of the building is very complex, with an overwhelming entrance hall that features a large spiral staircase, however the actual interior design of the institution is very minimal - mainly white walls, singular lights and concrete floors. This is an obvious choice for a horrific mental asylum, and gives me hope that if we find a suitable building, we won't need an excess of props, as the asylum rooms would be very basic.

  The way that the show is actually captured is what inspires me the most. The types of angles used are very visually stylistic, experimenting with different ways of telling the narrative in an artistic manner. I found the wide shot of the character 'Lana,' bound to her bed particularly disturbing but visually stunning. I have also added a promo trailer for the series which this time features a collection of scenes taken from the show, which hopefully provides an insight into the style of the angles and cinematography.

  The editing in the show is also very effective. There are frequent, quick flash cuts to other scenes of horror as well as quick cuts to other angles of the same scene almost in fits, which captures the idea of the characters being mentally insane or affected by the horror.
  Overall, I think that this show is a great source of inspiration and for ideas, and I will hopefully take a lot from it before applying to my own trailer. The stylistic design of the programme is what I found most interesting, and in my opinion captures the illusion of a horrific mental institution perfectly. I also think that when it comes to planning the trailer in terms of shots/storyboards, this show will be a useful resource which I hope that people appreciate for its imaginative and artistic video.

Silent Hill: Revelation - Trailer Analysis

Silent Hill: Revelation is the sequal to the 2006 horror film, Silent Hill. Based on the video games, the story focuses around the female character Heather, who discovers that her identity is actually false the night before her 18th birthday, and is drawn to the "Hell on Earth" town that is Silent Hill. The genre of the film is horror, clearly represented by the tense and jumpy scenes, horrific and violence events as well as frequent diegetic screams.
  The structure of the trailer typically follows Todorov's theory of narrative stucture, as there are glimpses of munane life, such as a long shot of Heather in a school hallway. This equillibrium is then broken as she experiences a horrific hallucination, or so the audience is meant to believe, as well her paranoia that she is being followed, apparent in the diegetic dialogue, "I think there's someone following me." The audience then understand that it is Heather's destiny to return to Silent Hill and resolve the break in the equillibrium, shown by the wide shot of a wall that features, 'Come to Silent Hill,' written in blood, and the shallow focus wide, almost establishing shot of Heather walking down a foggy, misty road with the sign reading, 'Welcome to Silent Hill,' in the foreground.

  The style of the film is something that I think will attract the audience, as it is located in a fantasy town that is described by an intertitle in the trailer as, 'A place that Hell calls home.' It will also definitely attract the fans of the video games, as this audience are the film's main target. After doing some research into the target audience of the film, I found that this film (the sequal) is aimed at a wider audience that the first. The film is rated a 15, and therefore I would assume that the target audience are males and females, fans of horrors and the video games, ranging from the ages of 15 to 25, as the plot does not have a lot of substance and in my opinion, this type of film would not be desirable to an older audience. The main character of the film is also portrayed as a 17/18 year old, which futher suggests that the target audience are a similar age.

  The trailer lasts 2:29 minutes, which is the average time for a full trailer. There are 128 shots in total, including intertitles. This is just under the number of shots from other film trailers that I have looked at, however I believe that this is because there are a few shots that last for a few seconds to leave the audience in anticipation, before there is a frightening event that not only shocks the audience but sends a pump of fear throughout them.

  The trailer opens like a typical horror film trailer, with rather cliche intertitles that read, 'There is a place...that Hell...calls home.' This immediately implies the horror genre, as well as the location (suggests that the focus of the story is set in a 'Hell on Earth' - type location). Regulart cuts/jump cuts are mostly used throughout the trailer, however there are fades into different shots as well as fades to black and even a fast swipe across the screen at one point to follow the story - the father opens the door before being 'kidnapped.'

  Diegetic dialogue in the trailer provides a lot of the plot and narrative. The first opening scene of a young, possessed-looking girl reaking havoc in a town is implied as a dream, as a medium close up shows Heather suddenly wake up in bed, before a close over the shoulder shot of Heather's dad saying, "C'mon kiddo, it's just a dream," aiming to comfort his daugter. Heather's reply of, "They're calling me," provides a mystery, but also gives a brief overview of what is to come, suggesting that she is being haunted by these dreams and that they want her to go to this mysterious location and live the nightmare.
  Heather's next dialogue of, "I've got to go, don't want to be late for the first day of school," implies a lot about her character and history. However it mostly emphasises her age as a young adult/teenager. An over the shoulder shot of Heather hugging her father whilst smiling suggests that they have a very close relationship, that they cherish very dearly, apparents in the dialougue from her father, "You know I worry," and her reply of, "Don't worry!" This also suggests mystery, and that something bad is going to happen, and the equillibrium is going to be broken. Also, the fact that it is Heather's first day of school immediately makes her vulnerable, which is very stereotypical in horror films.

  The mise en scene in the trailer is very similiar to the video game (obviously), featuring rusty metal cages/prisons, fire, a creepy carnival and carousel and a misty street. This not only emphasises the horror genre, but also reinforces the idea of the location being Hell, with an extremely gritty, violent and nightmare-ish theme.

  The non-diegetic soundtrack beings slowly and calmly, featuring a piano tune, that oversees the shots of everyday life. However, this is suddenly changes when the scene occurs that Heather is haunted in the school corridor. A sudden thump is heard, similar to a power down/cut noise, that syncronises as the lights go out. The flickering of a light is sounded, and an ascending explosion of a trunmpet-sounding instrument is used to cause tension and anticipation as the unknown creature waddles towards Heather.
  The non-diegetic sound of a church bell is used as Heather leaves the motel room. This also works in sync with the shots, and features a long shot through an opening door of a misty street, a medium close up of Heather exiting the doorway and the wide shallow focus shot of Heather walking into Silent Hill. This creates the feeling of entering Hell, and perhaps death.
  Another non-diegetic sound that I think is particularly effective is the sound of the sirens/alarm, which creates a very climatic and tense feeling. This keeps the audience on edge, and in my opinion it haunts them, making them feel involved in the film, and vulnerable like Heather, making the horror even more frightening.
  In terms of the code of enigma, the audience are left with many questions. What and where is Silent Hill? Why do they want Heather? Will she find and rescue her father? Will the break in equilibrium be resolved? In a horror film, one does not know if the main character will survive, as they do not necessarily follow the same idea that the main characters always survive. In my opinion, this is a very intriguing trailer, which I think definitely stimulates the target audience's love for the franchise.

Group Pitch

Here is the PowerPoint presentation that we created as a group to promote our film, and hopefully 'sell' as a product. Unfortunately, because of the crossover between a PC and a Mac, not all of the fonts are correct, but this does not affect the content.

Pitch from harrevs

Our Chosen Genre

After being put into groups, we mutually decided that the horror/psychological thriller genre would be best to produce for our project. This was because we concluded that it would be the easiest genre to replicate and look professional, taking into account the difficulty of creating comedy as well as a gripping drama. Sci-Fi and Westerns were also out of the question due to our resources, and although the superhero genre is currently very popular and would provide the most profit, the limitations that we have mean that this would also be impossible to create and still look like a legitimate film trailer.

The Great Gatsby - Trailer Analysis

This is my analysis of The Great Gatsby, trailer #3.

  The Great Gatsby (2013) is a film adaptation of the 1925 novel by author F. Scott Fitzgerald. The genre is a drama/romance, which the audience can understand by the various medium close up shots of Jay Gatsby and Daisy in intimate situations, as well as the lyrics of the soundtrack such as, "I love you much," and, "Will you still love me when I'm no longer young and beautiful?"  There are elements of drama shown throughout, specifically in the scene where Gatsby loses his temper and screams, "Shut up!" whilst clenching his fist.
  The style/design of the film is one feature that I think attracts an audience. Set in the 'Roaring 20s,' a lot of people will enjoy the film for the historical aspect, and for the fashion period. I also think that the film's soundtrack is a selling point, as it features many popular artists, which help target the younger audience, perhaps 16-25 year olds, as it features artists such as Jay-Z, Lana Del Rey and Florence + The Machine. There is even an inter title at the end of the trailer that lists some of the artists featured in the film, to promote the soundtrack that can be bought separately, again targeting the younger audience. I believe that the film as a whole targets a large, diverse target audience, approximately ranging from 16-45, taking into account the older audience whom enjoy reading the original novel.
  In total, the trailer is two minutes and forty-fie seconds long, which is just over the average time for a film trailer. There is a total of one hundred and forty shots in the trailer, which includes inter titles, and like most films and trailers, the pacing of the cuts increases as the story becomes more tense. The music works well with the shots, and they often cut in time with the music, with a loud, "thump," sound effect, which makes the film appear dramatic. The is a huge range of shots used, from wide establishing shots of Gatsby's mansion to a worm's eye view of Daisy ripping off her pearls overwhelmed with mysterious emotion. This emphasises the diverse range of drama in the film, intriguing the audience as they yearn to learn the story behind the shots. However, a lot of the plot is given away through the shots, such as a wide shot of an unknown woman being hit by a speeding car, as well as a medium shot of a wall that features the shadow of a man with a gun. There are quite a lot of fades used between shots, however these are used with the slower soundtrack, and jump cuts are used with the other two, more upbeat and climatic soundtracks, creating a more gripping atmosphere.
  Part of the film's plot is given away trough diegetic sound, specifically dialogue. The opening line, "Mr. Gatsby, I'd like to know, exactly who are you anyhow?" presents Gatsby as a mysterious character and draws the audience's attention, which makes it a good opening line as it has the audience fixed from the start, and makes them want to watch more of the trailer to learn the identity of Gatsby.
  The character Nick Carraway acts as the narrator in the film, and as the voiceover in the trailer. Nick's voiceover provides an idea of the plot, but most of the dialogue aims to intrigue the audience, such as, "It had gone beyond her.  It had gone beyond everything." This creates more of a climatic atmosphere.
  The line, "Gatsby. He had a grand vision for his life since he was a boy," gives the audience a backstory of the plot, ensuring that they are up-to-date and understand the present storyline and characters.
  Gatsby's dialogue aimed at Daisy, "I'm going to fix things just as they were before, just you and me." provides another backstory (Gatsby and Daisy's previous relationship) but also introduces the conflict between Gatsby and Tom, Daisy's husband.
  Serious drama is then introduced, as Nick says the line, "But I had the uneasy feeling that he was guarding secrets…" This suggests that there are more complications in the story.
  Tom's dialogue in the trailer, "Something ought to be done about a fella like that," is the strongest line in the trailer. It introduces the climatic point and suggests how serious the drama is in the film, as murder/death is involved, and reinforces the tension between Gatsby and Tom. By this point, the audience is aware of the 'love triangle' situation between Gatsby, Daisy and Tom, and is left with a hint of how the story may progress and what it may involve.
  For this trailer, the inter titles are used to promote the film cast and crew rather than the actual film plot. "This Summer," is used to give the audience a general idea of when the film will be released. The  style of the film is also reinforced by the inter titles, as they feature gold, patterned backgrounds that suit the 1920s time period, but also emphasises the extravagant aspect of the film, as the characters are all represented as extremely wealthy.
  The inter title, "From Baz Luhrmann," targets the audience as a unique selling point, as fans of this specific director may be interested in seeing his work. This is similar to the inter title, "Director of Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge," as fans of these two films, or anyone that saw them and enjoyed them, may now be interested in seeing The Great Gatsby.
  The inter titles of the actors in the film are definitely a unique selling point. Leonardo DiCaprio is a definite reason that certain people will see the film, and the fact that he starred in Romeo + Juliet, and has worked with Luhrmann before.
  Carey Mulligan is also used as a unique selling point, as she is seen as quite a prestigious actress and has won multiple awards, which could be a reason for an audience.
  The mise en scene in the trailer is constructed in a very fashionable, stylish and decadent 1920s manner. The wealth of the characters is represented through the wide panning arc of the extravagant parties, large fountains and the mansions, to name a few. It also establishing the city of New York, which implies the geographical location of the film; Manhattan and The Hamptons, in the 1920s, when times were changing, leading to the jazz age, 'speakeasy' time period but also the idea that after the war, women were more independent and the 'flapper' style began to develop and become the new fashion. An example of this is the medium wide shot of Daisy at 1:15, which shows her wearing a short dress that before this new age would have been viewed as extremely inappropriate!
  I believe that the style of the film is the most powerful aspect and selling point of The Great Gatsby, and would be the reason why people would want to see the film. All of the shots are very cinematic and visually stunning, but also maintain the vintage tone that sets the time period.